Which field studies human origins and cultures?

• A. Biology
• B. Geography
• C. Anthropology
• D. Sociology

Answer: (C)

Anthropology focuses on humans across time and across different cultures, making it the field that studies both origins and cultural variation. It blends insights from biology and archaeology to understand how humans originated and evolved, and from cultural studies to examine beliefs, practices, and social life. Subfields include cultural anthropology, which looks at living communities and their customs; physical or biological anthropology, which studies human evolution and biology; archaeology, which uncovers past cultures through artifacts; and linguistic anthropology, which explores how language shapes social life. While biology deals with living organisms in general, geography with where things are, and sociology with social structures, anthropology uniquely integrates biological, historical, and cultural perspectives to explain what it means to be human.